


Is But A Weapon

by Estirose



Series: Tomoe [4]
Category: Sekirei
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:32:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2818820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uzume cuddles with Chiho, content to be her Sekirei.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Is But A Weapon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Letterblade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Letterblade/gifts).



> Hope you like this! I'm more a manga person than an anime person, but I double-checked to make sure I was following anime continuity (for the most part). Set somewhere vaguely mid-Pure Engagement.

"Uzume," Chiho said, and even if Uzume wasn't a Sekirei and Chiho her Ashikabi, she would have listened to her anyway. Chiho had a voice that was soft and gentle, one that made someone instinctively want to step in and protect her. Or at least that's what Uzume thought, anyway.

Uzume wouldn't have said she was an affectionate person, but she liked Chiho. She liked the idea of protecting her, of saving her, of using her skills to keep the most precious person in the world safe. Sure, to others, Chiho was just this eternally ill girl who was always in the hospital, but to Uzume, she was her life.

Living in the hospital with Chiho was unfortunately not an option. She wasn't like Kazehana or Musubi or Kuu, who had their Ashikabi, Minato, right there. She couldn't cuddle with Chiho in the middle of the night like the others could with Minato.

It was making her more and more desperate to actually do something to save her precious one. She could fight other Sekirei; that's what she was born to do, after all, protect the most precious person from what might await them. Even if she couldn't save Chiho from death, she could at least be there for her and cheer her up a little at least.

She was in a bear costume today, holding Chiho as they sat next to each other in the garden surrounding the hospital. Normally, she wouldn't wear her costumes outside the floor Chiho was on, because they were for Chiho and Chiho alone. All right, she did lend them to other Sekirei because she understood what it was like to do something for one's Ashikabi, but they were the only exceptions.

"Yes, Chiho?" Uzume asked. She thought of what was required of her to keep Chiho alive and receiving treatment. As much as she regretted it, she was a trained killer and kill she would do. Sometimes she remembered the ones she'd fought, left for dead without the respect due an enemy. The girl in the sweater with the knives was the one haunting her mind today, the one that she'd ambushed while the other woman was struggling with her drunk Ashikabi.

She'd quietly made sure the Ashikabi was safe, after, because she owed that to the woman's partner. The Ashikabi had been a girl, which so rarely happened that Uzume wanted to really make sure that everything was all right. The girl hadn't reminded her of Chiho at all, and yet she was everything like Chiho.

"You're upset again." Chiho smiled at Uzume, and Uzume immediately took her Ashikabi in her arms. There was little she could do about the fact that Chiho was sensitive, so sensitive that she picked up on what Uzume didn't want her to know. Uzume didn't want her Ashikabi to worry, she wanted her to be happy even when Uzume couldn't be. 

Chiho didn't make it easy, but that was okay because she was Chiho and Uzume knew that she would be the only one for her.

"Yes, but... it's because I miss you so much." Uzume tried to smile for Chiho, because that's what she deserved.

But it apparently didn't fool Chiho, for she reached out and took Uzume's hand. "Uzume, please don't feel you have to hide things from me. Is everything all right?" 

Uzume leaned in, cuddling Chiho as best she could. At least Chiho didn't have to haul around an IV drip, though she was so tired all the time that it didn't really matter. Uzume hadn't realized what part of her was missing until she met Chiho. It was probably not the world's best idea to wing an Ashikabi who might not live out the year, but Uzume wouldn't have chosen anybody else.

"Let's not worry about me." She hugged Chiho harder, though she did it carefully. Chiho had told her a lot about how she'd ended up in the hospital, how they'd thought it was Hashimoto's at first but her health had greatly degenerated shortly after. The doctors' current theory was that it was a combination of an aggressive virus and a genetic disorder, neither of which had a cure.

Maybe someday, Chiho might be well enough to be out of there, but it wasn't looking too good. It was why Uzume tried to distract her, tell her funny stories and generally be a good Sekirei to her Ashikabi.

Every Ashikabi, every Sekirei was different. That was what she'd told Musubi, and it was true. But Musubi and the others were fortunate that Minato was healthy and while he was a bit of a wimp, he was a good Ashikabi and a nice person. Not all Ashikabi were as nice as him, which she very well knew.

If they were, she wouldn't be in this situation. She'd be enjoying her time with Chiho and not causing her any concern. Chiho wouldn't be feeling like she was useless as an Ashikabi, even as Uzume tried to reassure her that she was perfect.

Because Chiho was perfect, at least as far as Uzume was concerned. Chiho was so delicate, so gentle, and so loving. 

It made her wish that there was something she could do other than be there for Chiho and kill whoever Higa wanted her to kill. But there wasn't. She'd spent more than one sleepless night trying to figure out how to get her Ashikabi to someplace where they would treat her just like this hospital was doing.

She'd thought, sometimes, of asking Kazehana for help. Any of them, really, but Kazehana understood her the best. She understood Uzume's love for Chiho, because she understood the love between Ashikabi and Sekirei, even if she'd never met Chiho. But there was nothing Kazehana or anybody else could do for her, because there was nothing that could be done. There was no way to save Chiho and herself from the situation they were in. 

And she knew that no matter what she did, Kazehana would support her because it was for Chiho. Even if they fought, Kazehana understood. It was why Uzume liked the older woman so much - even if they were fighting to the death, Kazehana would never hate her for what she did. It would probably make her sad, yes, but she would respect Uzume's choices.

"I always worry about you, Uzume," Chiho said softly. "You give so much to the world, and don't worry about yourself...."

There was something in Chiho's expression that made Uzume's heart break. "You say that only because you are my world, Chiho." She though of how they met, of how Chiho thought she was committing suicide. Of how she realized what she was looking for, who she was looking for, was a gentle ill girl at a hospital.

It wasn't what she was ever expecting, but as things went, it was hardly a burden. She leaned in to kiss Chiho on the cheek and despite everything, counted herself fortunate.


End file.
